I doubt they go after another SP. I think NH will sign a few more RP's to compete for the last two spots and that'll be it...unless he deals a corner OF or 1B. I don't think this team can afford to lose GFJ. Gaby, Marte, and Presley each have options left, for what it's worth.

Not impressed with this trade at all. Hanrahan was one of the best closers in baseball and Holt was crushing it in AAA and shown the ability to get on base in the majors in his short 24 game stint.

Sands doesn't impress me at all. He might have some power but he strikes out a lot. Just what the team that was near the top of the league in striking out needs, another guy that strikes out a lot.

StoleMy Pimentel Loaf is in AA at 22 years old but it seems many think his ceiling is a 4th/5th starter at the ML level.

Melancon was really good in 2011 with the Astros but struggled with the Sox last year. He was dominate in AAA in 20 innings last year so hopefully he worked some things out and can be solid at the back of our rotation.

Hopefully De Jesus can finally get back on track since his broken leg, he was set to be a stud at 2nd base until his injury in 09.

Melancon is not a starter, Dejesus is < Brock Holt (who someone on Twitter compared to Craig Biggio), and Hanrahan was trending downwards. Now I am a Blue Jays fan, but Pirate fans overvalue their own players like few I have ever seen.

Alejandro Rojas wrote:Melancon is not a starter, Dejesus is < Brock Holt (who someone on Twitter compared to Craig Biggio), and Hanrahan was trending downwards. Now I am a Blue Jays fan, but Pirate fans overvalue their own players like few I have ever seen.

Brock Holt is Craig Biggio? That person needs to have their head examined.

Eh, I just don't get this deal. I'm not a fan of getting rid of Holt, and while the return we got isn't the worst trade we've made recently, I still think I would have rather just kept Hanrahan this year.

IDK, I'm not as trusting of Grilli as a lot of other people seem to be, he never really amounted to much until the first half of last year. Hanrahan may not have been as lights out as his stats say, but the vast majority of the time we never had to worry about the ninth inning at all if we had a lead, and for a team with as many holes as this one, that was a big deal.

I'm not sure that trading Hanrahan will negatively affect their place in the 2013 standings, so they might as well get something in return. ie The bullpen will probably be spent by August anyway, so I don't think it matters.